(ETZ)Esattezza Autosport! Lancia Stratos "La Italiano" Model added
- Thread starter Spec M
- 453 comments
- 71,209 views
- 2,063
Aye, that'd be much appreciated, Camry. It's an older tune of mine and might benefit from a few refinements but I'd be happy to hear what you think. For the sake of clarity, at some point tonight or tomorrow I shall be putting a presentation of her up here, along with the SLK 230 I've been working on.
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- 2,063
Mercedes Benz SLK 230 Kompressor '98
After spending quite some time working up Mercs to run against cars far along on the scale of pace whilst still aiming for that Gold Standard of 200 A-Spec, I was ready for a change of environment.
The SLK 230 is a wonderful car, much smaller than many of the luxury executive 'liners' that I've been spannering of late. Indeed, I very nearly bought one of these myself in the real world when I saw it up for grabs for £25,000 at the garage where I lived
. As normal, I have 'issues' with the way it has been modelled in game but we work with what PD provides ... 
.
Having competed in the higher echelon races with the other Mercedes, I decided this time to go to the lower end of the middle, if that makes any sense
.
My goal was to 200 A-Spec the Clubman Cup in the Professional hall using a car that I had messed about with before but had not seriously honed. It had a wide spectrum of kit already in place, so I just had to grab my toolbox and off we went to Apricot Hill.
The hardware on this car is as follows:
Racing Exhaust & Chip with Port Polish and Engine Balance performed (216HP)
Road Tyres (N3 Grade)
Racing Brakes & Balancer
Racing Suspension & Chassis Stiffness (after refresh I'm assuming
)
Fully Custom Gearbox, Triple Plate Clutch, Racing Flywheel & Carbon Prop Shaft
Fully Custom Limited Slip Diff
We ran her against the first ten grids for each course and found that Grid#8 was a good one:
Mitsubishi Eclipse, Alfa Romeo GT 3.2, Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, Mercedes Benz 190E, Nissan Silvia Spec R Aero
A bit of juggling with power modifications and Ballast rendered the desired 200 A-Spec reward with the following set-up:
Brakes: 5/4
Springs: 7.8/7.4
Ride Height: 102/102
Damper Bound: 4/4
Damper Rebound: 6/9
Camber: 2.0/1.0
Toe: 0/0
Stabalisers: 5/5
Gears: AutoSet 9 @ 3.460
1st: 2.834
2nd: 1.879
3rd: 1.347
4th: 1.022
5th: 0.820
LSD: 10/36/18
Ballast: 41kg @ 0 (Total Weight 1466kg)
Now, this set-up is by no means presented as 'perfect'. It is good enough to do the job at four of the circuits in the series. But, Seoul eluded us. By switching tyres to S1's, victory was posible if the Alfa GT didn't get past the Mitsubishi Eclipse too soon. Otherwise, we had to settle for 171 A-Spec running on S2's.
Some additional work on the LSD would probably iron out a fast corner exit oversteer characteristic; a quick fix, if it bothers a driver too much, is to raise the Front Rebound to 7. However, I like her as she is, so that's how she's sitting on the forecourt at the moment.
Turn 1, Lap 1, Apricot Hill is where good handling and track position can really pay off
Reeling in the Eclipse
And finally ...
Setting up a pass as the 190E tussles with an Alfa
Diving past the GT at SSR5 and on to victory.
After spending quite some time working up Mercs to run against cars far along on the scale of pace whilst still aiming for that Gold Standard of 200 A-Spec, I was ready for a change of environment.
The SLK 230 is a wonderful car, much smaller than many of the luxury executive 'liners' that I've been spannering of late. Indeed, I very nearly bought one of these myself in the real world when I saw it up for grabs for £25,000 at the garage where I lived
. As normal, I have 'issues' with the way it has been modelled in game but we work with what PD provides ... .Having competed in the higher echelon races with the other Mercedes, I decided this time to go to the lower end of the middle, if that makes any sense
.My goal was to 200 A-Spec the Clubman Cup in the Professional hall using a car that I had messed about with before but had not seriously honed. It had a wide spectrum of kit already in place, so I just had to grab my toolbox and off we went to Apricot Hill.
The hardware on this car is as follows:
Racing Exhaust & Chip with Port Polish and Engine Balance performed (216HP)
Road Tyres (N3 Grade)
Racing Brakes & Balancer
Racing Suspension & Chassis Stiffness (after refresh I'm assuming
)Fully Custom Gearbox, Triple Plate Clutch, Racing Flywheel & Carbon Prop Shaft
Fully Custom Limited Slip Diff
We ran her against the first ten grids for each course and found that Grid#8 was a good one:
Mitsubishi Eclipse, Alfa Romeo GT 3.2, Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, Mercedes Benz 190E, Nissan Silvia Spec R Aero
A bit of juggling with power modifications and Ballast rendered the desired 200 A-Spec reward with the following set-up:
Brakes: 5/4
Springs: 7.8/7.4
Ride Height: 102/102
Damper Bound: 4/4
Damper Rebound: 6/9
Camber: 2.0/1.0
Toe: 0/0
Stabalisers: 5/5
Gears: AutoSet 9 @ 3.460
1st: 2.834
2nd: 1.879
3rd: 1.347
4th: 1.022
5th: 0.820
LSD: 10/36/18
Ballast: 41kg @ 0 (Total Weight 1466kg)
Now, this set-up is by no means presented as 'perfect'. It is good enough to do the job at four of the circuits in the series. But, Seoul eluded us. By switching tyres to S1's, victory was posible if the Alfa GT didn't get past the Mitsubishi Eclipse too soon. Otherwise, we had to settle for 171 A-Spec running on S2's
.Some additional work on the LSD would probably iron out a fast corner exit oversteer characteristic; a quick fix, if it bothers a driver too much, is to raise the Front Rebound to 7. However, I like her as she is, so that's how she's sitting on the forecourt at the moment
.
Turn 1, Lap 1, Apricot Hill is where good handling and track position can really pay off
Reeling in the Eclipse
And finally ...
Setting up a pass as the 190E tussles with an Alfa
Diving past the GT at SSR5 and on to victory.
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- 2,063
Jaguar XKR Coupe '99
ENDURANCE HALL
Laguna Seca 200 Miles
All Tyre Types Permitted
National A Licence Required
Prize Money: 200,000cr
Prize Car: Ford GT40 Race Car ’69 (743,749cr)
Having been searching for a race in which to use a second-hand Jaguar XKR ’99, I have a feeling that this race might be possible to win in one.
My first port of call is, of course, hardware updates. I get all the suspension and transmission ‘bells and whistles’, including the Chassis Stiffening and take a Weight Reduction 1 to get the weight down to 1443KG (from 1640KG). I add a Sports Exhaust and Racing Chip along with 21KG of Ballast for a Power/Weight Ratio of 3.662.
I then take her to Free Run at Laguna Seca to try and dial her in. I was looking for laps in the 1’31 to 1’32 range but couldn’t get that speed reliably – however, I suspect that this is a driver problem rather than the cars fault.
The initial set-up was:
Brakes: 5/4
Springs: 7.6/6.4
Ride Height: 112/112
Damper Bound: 5/6
Damper Rebound: 8/9
Camber: 2.0/1.0
Toe: +1/+0
Stabilisers: 3/6
Gears: As Default except that Final adjusted to 3.670
LSD: 10/30/20
Weight: 21 @ 10
I try her against Grid 1: Pontiac GTO 5.7 Coupe ’04, Chevrolet Camaro SS ’00, Saleen S7 ’02, Ford GT ’05, Shelby Series 1 Super Charged ‘03
This is a 200 A-Spec race, which is kind of the point after all. Even with the Ballast off (still 200 A-Spec) I finished in third (a minute behind the Shelby and fifteen seconds behind the Saleen). The race time was 2’22’32.603. I ran a three pit strategy that obviously did not work (pitted laps 22,45.67). The cars handling was not good in race, with lots of understeer both under braking and under power.
Had a look at Grid 2: Corvette Grand Sport, Corvette ZR-1, Shelby Series 1 Super Charged, Calloway C12, Dodge Viper GTS.
The A-Spec value was only 176 even with the Ballast on and now I know what a monster the Shelby is I decide not to bother and to go back to testing.
After some track time I altered the set-up to:
Brakes: 5/4
Springs: 8.6/8.0
Ride Height: 112/112
Damper Bound: 5/5
Damper Rebound: 8/9
Camber: 2.0/1.0
Toe: +0/+2
Stabilisers: 4/5
Gears: Manually set 3.240/1.962/1.390/1.087/0.908 with Final of 3.760
LSD: 10/28/12
Weight: 21 @ 10
Go back to the circuit and have a look at Grid 3:
Fort GT, Corvette Grand Sport, Saleen S7, Mustang SVT Cobra R, Shelby Series 1 Super Charged
200 A-Spec race. Experimented with different power levels and got:
190 A-Spec with NA1 Tune and Racing Chip (431HP)
197 A-Spec with NA1 Tune and Sports Exhaust (423HP)
200 A-Spec with NA1 Tune only (419HP)
Running with the latter, I started on R1/R2 tyres, planning a five pit strategy (i.e. every eighteen laps). At the first pit I tried R2/R2 boots but found that the fronts wore too quickly. It would’ve required stopping every fifteen laps, needed an extra pit.
A very exciting race in that I was seldom at the front and when I was I usually had to pit shortly afterwards. Most of the time I was trying to chase down one or two cars ahead of me whilst fending off (cleanly) all comers from behind.
Nearing the end of the race, I’d resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to win as I was not reeling in the Saleen quickly enough … then he pitted on lap 86! I think I took an extra half a lap of tyre wear off from the Corkscrew to the Start/Finish straight as I piled on as much as I could, throwing rubber-conservation to the four winds.
The feeling as the Place Number ticked to “1” was marvellous … and then the Lead Margin came up and I realised that the Shelby was right on me
!
I was driving nervously now too, fluffing corners and braking points as I was petrified of overcooking it and ending up in the kitty litter. I stretched out the gap to twelve seconds in short order but then the Shelby started to chew into that. I was really sweating it, thinking I might hold him off but I wasn’t sure right up to the point that, without warning, the Shelby pitted in on lap 89 :faints:.
One lap to go and now I’ve got the Saleen breathing down my neck. Ten seconds lead, Eight seconds lead … my knuckles were white on the wheel as I aced the last half of the lap for the first time in an hour, screaming around the last turn with the wheels on the edge of letting go and piling over the finish line for a Race Time of 2’21’06.900. MoV 11.709. BL 1’30.105.
Finishing Order:
Pole - British Racing Green Jaguar XKR ‘99
2nd – Saleen S7
3rd – Shelby Series 1
4th – Ford GT
5th – Corvette Grand Sport
6th – Mustang SVT Cobra
ENDURANCE HALL
Laguna Seca 200 Miles
All Tyre Types Permitted
National A Licence Required
Prize Money: 200,000cr
Prize Car: Ford GT40 Race Car ’69 (743,749cr)
Having been searching for a race in which to use a second-hand Jaguar XKR ’99, I have a feeling that this race might be possible to win in one.
My first port of call is, of course, hardware updates. I get all the suspension and transmission ‘bells and whistles’, including the Chassis Stiffening and take a Weight Reduction 1 to get the weight down to 1443KG (from 1640KG). I add a Sports Exhaust and Racing Chip along with 21KG of Ballast for a Power/Weight Ratio of 3.662.
I then take her to Free Run at Laguna Seca to try and dial her in. I was looking for laps in the 1’31 to 1’32 range but couldn’t get that speed reliably – however, I suspect that this is a driver problem rather than the cars fault.
The initial set-up was:
Brakes: 5/4
Springs: 7.6/6.4
Ride Height: 112/112
Damper Bound: 5/6
Damper Rebound: 8/9
Camber: 2.0/1.0
Toe: +1/+0
Stabilisers: 3/6
Gears: As Default except that Final adjusted to 3.670
LSD: 10/30/20
Weight: 21 @ 10
I try her against Grid 1: Pontiac GTO 5.7 Coupe ’04, Chevrolet Camaro SS ’00, Saleen S7 ’02, Ford GT ’05, Shelby Series 1 Super Charged ‘03
This is a 200 A-Spec race, which is kind of the point after all
. Even with the Ballast off (still 200 A-Spec) I finished in third (a minute behind the Shelby and fifteen seconds behind the Saleen). The race time was 2’22’32.603. I ran a three pit strategy that obviously did not work (pitted laps 22,45.67). The cars handling was not good in race, with lots of understeer both under braking and under power.Had a look at Grid 2: Corvette Grand Sport, Corvette ZR-1, Shelby Series 1 Super Charged, Calloway C12, Dodge Viper GTS.
The A-Spec value was only 176 even with the Ballast on and now I know what a monster the Shelby is I decide not to bother and to go back to testing.
After some track time I altered the set-up to:
Brakes: 5/4
Springs: 8.6/8.0
Ride Height: 112/112
Damper Bound: 5/5
Damper Rebound: 8/9
Camber: 2.0/1.0
Toe: +0/+2
Stabilisers: 4/5
Gears: Manually set 3.240/1.962/1.390/1.087/0.908 with Final of 3.760
LSD: 10/28/12
Weight: 21 @ 10
Go back to the circuit and have a look at Grid 3:
Fort GT, Corvette Grand Sport, Saleen S7, Mustang SVT Cobra R, Shelby Series 1 Super Charged
200 A-Spec race. Experimented with different power levels and got:
190 A-Spec with NA1 Tune and Racing Chip (431HP)
197 A-Spec with NA1 Tune and Sports Exhaust (423HP)
200 A-Spec with NA1 Tune only (419HP)
Running with the latter, I started on R1/R2 tyres, planning a five pit strategy (i.e. every eighteen laps). At the first pit I tried R2/R2 boots but found that the fronts wore too quickly. It would’ve required stopping every fifteen laps, needed an extra pit.
A very exciting race in that I was seldom at the front and when I was I usually had to pit shortly afterwards. Most of the time I was trying to chase down one or two cars ahead of me whilst fending off (cleanly) all comers from behind.
Nearing the end of the race, I’d resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to win as I was not reeling in the Saleen quickly enough … then he pitted on lap 86! I think I took an extra half a lap of tyre wear off from the Corkscrew to the Start/Finish straight as I piled on as much as I could, throwing rubber-conservation to the four winds.
The feeling as the Place Number ticked to “1” was marvellous … and then the Lead Margin came up and I realised that the Shelby was right on me
!
I was driving nervously now too, fluffing corners and braking points as I was petrified of overcooking it and ending up in the kitty litter. I stretched out the gap to twelve seconds in short order but then the Shelby started to chew into that. I was really sweating it, thinking I might hold him off but I wasn’t sure right up to the point that, without warning, the Shelby pitted in on lap 89 :faints:.
One lap to go and now I’ve got the Saleen breathing down my neck. Ten seconds lead, Eight seconds lead … my knuckles were white on the wheel as I aced the last half of the lap for the first time in an hour, screaming around the last turn with the wheels on the edge of letting go and piling over the finish line for a Race Time of 2’21’06.900. MoV 11.709. BL 1’30.105.
Finishing Order:
Pole - British Racing Green Jaguar XKR ‘99
2nd – Saleen S7
3rd – Shelby Series 1
4th – Ford GT
5th – Corvette Grand Sport
6th – Mustang SVT Cobra
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- 455
- Vesper37
SLK-230 Kompresser Review Another bit of weird scribblings by CamryFan
The SLK Roadster, very much a jewel of my eye and I would even go as far as too say it is the sportiest car the Mercedes has made. The SLK comes with a full array of engines from a throbby V8 to a Supercharged 4-pot, you could also say that it's a cut down SL with the flab cutout. Now thought, Esattezza have been spotted doing the rounds in an SLK 230 so naturally I had to ring up and enquire about it, by weeks end I had a test vehicle.
I had driven an SLK 230 before and I remeber getting out of it being very irritated. Not at fault with the car of course, I was angry at myself for having left this car in the dark for so long. It's not as bad a car as you might think, the power (195bhp) is pretty solid and it responds fairly well to the harsh treatment of a track day, progressively oversteering in tighter corners, but dangerously sliding of the road in a fit of high-speed-understeering normally ditching the car into a mountain, Yikes!
I was happy when my hire car arrived, but slightly de-jected by the colour, it seem to have arrived in a gastly Yellow - thanks ETZ but putting colours aside I was hoping that I would be going fast enough for people not to notice. That was a wise tactic, The ETZ SLK 230 (don't wanna say that too fast) transforms the standard car from competent to quick. So what have ETZ done to the SLK. Well if you look under the bonnet you won't really see anything different. The major tweaks are inside the engine. We reel'ed off 228bhp off the dyno, pretty impressive. The car is also quite striking, coming in a lot lower then the factory model.
How is it on the track then, totally awesome, not quite awe inspiring this isn't a supercar but it is amazing. I haven't driven many cars in GT that can swing from trackday warrior to drifting exotica in such a swift movement. Hard on the brake's the release and turn in and it is brilliantly smooth, late-trail brake then turn in and just watch. In a brilliant execution of form and function the tail comes and swings around in a totally controllable fashion, on the final turn of Deep Forest it is actually faster then trying to drive like a race car. On the topic of Deep Forest the car doesn't really handle the various dips and off camber corners but guess what, the car is so responsive and so flick-able eventually you just get over it.
ETZ call themselves the Merc Masters and based solely on this car, I think they servant. It ain't easy making a good car better but they made a competent car quick. If you swingin by ETZ on the way the work make sure you get this little wonder and get yourself to a track pronto.
The SLK Roadster, very much a jewel of my eye and I would even go as far as too say it is the sportiest car the Mercedes has made. The SLK comes with a full array of engines from a throbby V8 to a Supercharged 4-pot, you could also say that it's a cut down SL with the flab cutout. Now thought, Esattezza have been spotted doing the rounds in an SLK 230 so naturally I had to ring up and enquire about it, by weeks end I had a test vehicle.
I had driven an SLK 230 before and I remeber getting out of it being very irritated. Not at fault with the car of course, I was angry at myself for having left this car in the dark for so long. It's not as bad a car as you might think, the power (195bhp) is pretty solid and it responds fairly well to the harsh treatment of a track day, progressively oversteering in tighter corners, but dangerously sliding of the road in a fit of high-speed-understeering normally ditching the car into a mountain, Yikes!
I was happy when my hire car arrived, but slightly de-jected by the colour, it seem to have arrived in a gastly Yellow - thanks ETZ but putting colours aside I was hoping that I would be going fast enough for people not to notice. That was a wise tactic, The ETZ SLK 230 (don't wanna say that too fast) transforms the standard car from competent to quick. So what have ETZ done to the SLK. Well if you look under the bonnet you won't really see anything different. The major tweaks are inside the engine. We reel'ed off 228bhp off the dyno, pretty impressive. The car is also quite striking, coming in a lot lower then the factory model.
How is it on the track then, totally awesome, not quite awe inspiring this isn't a supercar but it is amazing. I haven't driven many cars in GT that can swing from trackday warrior to drifting exotica in such a swift movement. Hard on the brake's the release and turn in and it is brilliantly smooth, late-trail brake then turn in and just watch. In a brilliant execution of form and function the tail comes and swings around in a totally controllable fashion, on the final turn of Deep Forest it is actually faster then trying to drive like a race car. On the topic of Deep Forest the car doesn't really handle the various dips and off camber corners but guess what, the car is so responsive and so flick-able eventually you just get over it.
ETZ call themselves the Merc Masters and based solely on this car, I think they servant. It ain't easy making a good car better but they made a competent car quick. If you swingin by ETZ on the way the work make sure you get this little wonder and get yourself to a track pronto.
- 2,063
Thanks for that absolutely splendid review, Camry.
I love how you put over your experiences in the driving seat with such vivid emotion, turning a report on handling into something alive; telling the reader how the car felt to drive 👍.
Oh and deep apologies for the terrible colour the test car arrived in - we're ashamed .
I love how you put over your experiences in the driving seat with such vivid emotion, turning a report on handling into something alive; telling the reader how the car felt to drive 👍.
Oh and deep apologies for the terrible colour the test car arrived in - we're ashamed
.
- 455
- Vesper37
Thanks for that absolutely splendid review, Camry.
I love how you put over your experiences in the driving seat with such vivid emotion, turning a report on handling into something alive; telling the reader how the car felt to drive 👍.
Oh and deep apologies for the terrible colour the test car arrived in - we're ashamed
Wow, Thanks. Like really thanks a lot. I believe thats the first comment I have received about my actual writing style. I try to put everything into my reviews.
Hey, Don't worry about the colour at all. You guys didn't have an XJR available in the carpark but Im pretty lazy so I order in an SLK. (i.e The XJR review is coming, just didn't find one in the car park).
- 2,063
Mercedes Benz 190 E 2.5 – 16 Evolution II ‘91
Hardware:
Racing Exhaust {Stock and not removable}
Racing Chip
Stage 2 NA Tuning
Racing Tyres (R3 Grade)
Racing Brakes & Balance Controller
Racing Suspension with Chassis Stiffness
Fully Customisable Gearbox
Triple Plate Clutch & Racing Flywheel & Carbon Propeller Shaft
Fully Customisable Limited Slip Differential
This gave 334HP and a car weight of 1341kg (including Ballast)
Set-up:
Brakes: 3/2
Springs: 12.0/10.0
Ride Height: 83/83
Damper Bound: 3/4
Damper Rebound: 8/9
Camber: 2.0/1.0
Toe: 0/0
Stabiliser: 5/5
Gearbox: 10 @ 3.760
1st: 3.270
2nd: 2.500
3rd: 1.655
4th: 1.225
5th: 0.935
TCS/ASM: 0/0/0
Downforce: 8/11 {Stock, not removable, set to minimum}
LSD: 8/24/16
Ballast: 1 @ 0
This was built up to run the Tuning Car Grand Prix. I hoped to be able to get 200 A-Spec out of her because she handles so well but the lack of acceleration and top-end speed meant that compromises had to be made.
Using Grid#12 { RUF BTR ’86, Amuse S2000 Street Version ’04, RUF CTR2 ’96, HPA Motorsports Stage II R32 ’04, RUF CTR “Yellowbird” ’87} I could achieve wins with an A-Spec value of 192. Ruthless blocking had to be employed from the standing starts at Apricot Hill, Fuji and Tokyo. El Capitan was a comfortable drive, letting the Yellowbird go off the line and then taking the lead back after the technical sections. Tsukuba was nice and easy, leading from the front all the way.
Hardware:
Racing Exhaust {Stock and not removable}
Racing Chip
Stage 2 NA Tuning
Racing Tyres (R3 Grade)
Racing Brakes & Balance Controller
Racing Suspension with Chassis Stiffness
Fully Customisable Gearbox
Triple Plate Clutch & Racing Flywheel & Carbon Propeller Shaft
Fully Customisable Limited Slip Differential
This gave 334HP and a car weight of 1341kg (including Ballast)
Set-up:
Brakes: 3/2
Springs: 12.0/10.0
Ride Height: 83/83
Damper Bound: 3/4
Damper Rebound: 8/9
Camber: 2.0/1.0
Toe: 0/0
Stabiliser: 5/5
Gearbox: 10 @ 3.760
1st: 3.270
2nd: 2.500
3rd: 1.655
4th: 1.225
5th: 0.935
TCS/ASM: 0/0/0
Downforce: 8/11 {Stock, not removable, set to minimum}
LSD: 8/24/16
Ballast: 1 @ 0
This was built up to run the Tuning Car Grand Prix. I hoped to be able to get 200 A-Spec out of her because she handles so well but the lack of acceleration and top-end speed meant that compromises had to be made.
Using Grid#12 { RUF BTR ’86, Amuse S2000 Street Version ’04, RUF CTR2 ’96, HPA Motorsports Stage II R32 ’04, RUF CTR “Yellowbird” ’87} I could achieve wins with an A-Spec value of 192. Ruthless blocking had to be employed from the standing starts at Apricot Hill, Fuji and Tokyo. El Capitan was a comfortable drive, letting the Yellowbird go off the line and then taking the lead back after the technical sections. Tsukuba was nice and easy, leading from the front all the way.
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- 736
I am amazed, Camryfan, that that's the first compliment you've received for your writing. Whenever I see your name on a review I know it's going to be a well thought-out, passionate and intelligent piece of work. I'm a good writer, but most of my education over the last ten years has been criticizing others' writing. I'm good at it, and compulsively honest, just so you know I'm not blowing smoke up your arse.
You give the impression of being an opinionated and eloquent youngster. Your grammar and spelling is a bit sloppy, but this is overshadowed by the evocative and very readable prose, your sheer enthusiasm for the game and skill as a driver/tuner.
If you are interested in improving your writing skill, please feel free to PM me for proofing or ideas on composition. I'm a **** driver, but a tolerable wordsmith.
Sorry for off-topic ETZ, but I reckon this feller should be encouraged.
- 2,063
Nice to see you again, Soprano 👍. Glad to hear that you're settling in to the rhythm of your new 'life'.
If you get the chance to do a bit of work on the Front of House, there are three builds just up the page that are not 'bookmarked':
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3189930&postcount=304
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3189995&postcount=305
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3195506&postcount=309
If you get the chance to do a bit of work on the Front of House, there are three builds just up the page that are not 'bookmarked':
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3189930&postcount=304
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3189995&postcount=305
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3195506&postcount=309
- 1,099
- Texas
- Whiskey345ci
- 1,099
- Texas
- Whiskey345ci
Wow! I plan on doing a 2009 line sneak peak and those would be perfect for a premiere. I plan on presenting my next full size sedan and also start another build for the TCV4.
Dotini
(Banned)
- 15,742
- Seattle
- CR80_Shifty
For me, this is an exciting announcement as the Nurburgring 24 Hour is one of the very few remaining races I have not attempted for 200 points, and also because I have not settled on a ride for the race.
Having never tried the Tuscan, it was only yesterday that I stopped by the dealer, paid the asking price, and took the vehicle to my local track for first impressions. "Surely they have got the front and rear springs reversed!", I said to myself after the first session where I nearly slid off at every exit. After swapping the springs front to rear it was better in the 2nd session. However, darkness having adjournment for the day, I await Sukerkin's demon tweaks. No doubt he will find the way to trade off understeer and rear tire wear for us would-be Ring-Meisters!
- 2,063
Evening, Dotini . I'm just about to fire up the 4hr Enduro Build Tuscan for her final test.
She's designed to be driven manual gearbox using the the G25's stick-shift rather than the paddles and has been tuned to be run with the chassis 'worn out' to add an extra frisson of challenge (and prevent an unpleasant change of handling during the long race).
Major problems have been front tyre wear rate exceeding the rears and poor braking performance. I think I whittled those down but I'm about to run her after leaving her alone for a couple of days - my final test is always to see if she still drives okay after a lay-off, meaning that the set-up is good rather than I'd adapted to the track/car combination.
. I'm just about to fire up the 4hr Enduro Build Tuscan for her final test. She's designed to be driven manual gearbox using the the G25's stick-shift rather than the paddles and has been tuned to be run with the chassis 'worn out' to add an extra frisson of challenge (and prevent an unpleasant change of handling during the long race).
Major problems have been front tyre wear rate exceeding the rears and poor braking performance. I think I whittled those down but I'm about to run her after leaving her alone for a couple of days - my final test is always to see if she still drives okay after a lay-off, meaning that the set-up is good rather than I'd adapted to the track/car combination.
Dotini
(Banned)
- 15,742
- Seattle
- CR80_Shifty
Good evening, Sukerkin. Your comments about running with a "worn out" chassis are of great interest. I recently completed the Sarthe round of the 1000miles! with a BLRA-3. After the event, I "refreshed" the chassis, and promptly lost 2 seconds off my best lap time. This would appear to be the same phenomenon, would it not?
I'm afraid I'm a bit too old and arthritic to do a 24 hour, or even a 4 hour hour race with manual shift. Even tho' in real life I race my kart with a paddle shifter, in GT4 I prefer the auto because I receive the eye-hand coordination benefit of the racing without the ergonomic insult of constant gear shifting. The other reason is that the G25 paddle shifter is opposite the shift on my kart, i.e., the right hand paddle shifts up rather than down as on my kart. So to avoid the "cognitive dissonance" and wrong muscle memory, I simply use the auto shift. Even so, I still look forward to auditioning the dramatic Tuscan with your wily tuning.
I'm afraid I'm a bit too old and arthritic to do a 24 hour, or even a 4 hour hour race with manual shift. Even tho' in real life I race my kart with a paddle shifter, in GT4 I prefer the auto because I receive the eye-hand coordination benefit of the racing without the ergonomic insult of constant gear shifting. The other reason is that the G25 paddle shifter is opposite the shift on my kart, i.e., the right hand paddle shifts up rather than down as on my kart. So to avoid the "cognitive dissonance" and wrong muscle memory, I simply use the auto shift. Even so, I still look forward to auditioning the dramatic Tuscan with your wily tuning.
- 2,063
I do fear that without manual gear control you might find her a bit of a disappointment, my friend .
A lot of her stopping power comes from downshifting and a lot of her corner exit aplomb comes from being in the 'right' gear, which is usually not the one selected by the AutoBox, which does not understand high-power, high-torque engines.
I think my 4hr Build is about as good as I can make her - I've reached the point where experimental changes make her worse, which is usually a sign to stop fiddling
. I shall write her up this week sometime and try also to get the 24Hr Build done too.
As an aside, the 4Hr build has been used to run rally with no more change than spannering the Stabalisers to 6/3 - that was a hoot.
. A lot of her stopping power comes from downshifting and a lot of her corner exit aplomb comes from being in the 'right' gear, which is usually not the one selected by the AutoBox, which does not understand high-power, high-torque engines.
I think my 4hr Build is about as good as I can make her - I've reached the point where experimental changes make her worse, which is usually a sign to stop fiddling
. I shall write her up this week sometime and try also to get the 24Hr Build done too.As an aside, the 4Hr build has been used to run rally with no more change than spannering the Stabalisers to 6/3 - that was a hoot
.
- 2,063
TVR Tuscan Speed Six
To those members who have know me for about as many years as I've been posting on matters GT here and elsewhere, it will come as no surprise that I now present to the clientelle of ETZ a build of a TVR.
She's a project born of my passion for this marque and the desire to overcome all the horrible things that PD have inflicted upon it (which are mostly spelt "Power-on/Power-Off & Braking Understeer").
This is designed to be used for the 4hr Endurance race at the Nurburgring and has been set-up to be run on a chassis that has been 'broken-in' and with the engine worn down to the so-called "Black Oil" state. This is to prevent, as much as possible, any changes in the behaviour and performance of the car during the long race.
Further, she is meant to be driven using the manual gear shift of the G25, rather than the paddles on the wheel. Indeed, after a bit of practice, I'm hoping people will find that this encourages proper braking and gear-changing and stops the desire to dive into an apex of a corner too fast, hard on the brakes and chopping the box down ... then wondering why a 365HP car on cold N3 tyres slides wide.
I haven't had chance to actually try her in the race for which she is targeted, I'm embarassed to say. Real world work (the sort I get paid for) has overwhelmed my free time and I've barely found the hours to dial her in and 'grind her down'. Partially this was bad planning becaues I built her on a fresh-start game save that I'm using to see how much of the game I can complete just using a Tuscan and haven't yet done enough game percentage to unlock the Endurance Hall.
However, she will do laps of the 'Ring in 7'35 - 7' 45 depending on tyre wear and driving aberations {see above about late-braking effects} which is massively quicker than what is necessary to beat the grid in the Enduro. In my previous run at this race, which was done (not long after GT4 was released in a TVR V8S), my laps were over the 8 minute mark, so the Tuscan is more than quick enough. The grid back then was Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II, Vauxhall VX220 Turbo, Audi RS4, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VIII MR GSR, Ford Focus RS2 and my notes tell me that any grids with the Opel Speedster Turbo in are to be avoided as it's way above the performance curve.
As with the GT40, straight-line speed is not a problem, except for the fact that a real-world Tuscan is claimed to hit 200mph and the PD version cannot.
A Tuscan in the wild, eating less bellicose marques as snacks-on-the-run.
One of the big problems to overcome was the fact that the tyre-wear at the front was much worse than the rear and I didn't want to make the understeer even worse by running harder compounds at the front. So I had to indulge in a little weight re-distribution excercise. This was expensive in money terms but did help even things out. The other major problem was the simple lack of response from the steering, or, more accurately, a strangely lagged response where you'd feed in a hefty amount of lock and then the car would respond after a delay. To counter this, in the end, I simply had to run with much harder Damper ratings than I would like. You can see the results of this in the picture below:
All that said, this car turned out to be very stable, even on the low-grip tyres she's shod with and she seldom threatens to light-up the rears under hard throttle. The curse, as ever, is understeer. Too soon on the loud pedal and you'll feel the push to the outside as the rear grip excedes the front. With TVR's in-game, as in real life to an extent, it's a matter of learning how to drive one and once you do, boy are they fun.
Anyhow, enough warbling. The hardware for this build is:
Weight Reduction Stage 3
Standard Tyres (Grade N3)
Brake Balance Controller {Optional}
Racing Suspension
Triple-Plate Clutch
Racing Flywheel
Carbon Propellor Shaft
The Set-up is as follows:
Brakes: 6/6 (lower front power recommended if you're a bit heavy on the STOP pedal)
Springs: 11.6/9.0
Ride: 97/97
Damper Bound: 5/6
Damper Rebound: 10/6
Camber: 3.0/1.0
Toe: +1/+0
Stabiliser: 4/6
TCS/ASM: 0/0/0
Weight Balance: 132kg @ +9
A look at the difference between front and rear tyre width in this Flugplatz shot perhaps shows us why the PD engine builds in so little front end grip? It should also be noted that altho' the car is still nose-heavy to an extent, the flatness in the air here is an indication that the general balance is much better than it was.
To finish, as well as being tasked specifically with the 4hr Endurance I mentioned earlier, this lady is having to fulfil a much wider role than a sports-car would normally be called upon for. Because she was built for a game in which the sole aim was to see how much could be done with her, she's had to abandon the race tracks and street circuits and get down and dirty (or chilly) with the Rally boys. The following shots show the same car as above, the only tweaks being a switch of the Stabalisers to 6/3 and a TCS of 5 being set.
Downhill, hard on the brakes, waiting for the back-end to come round
Enjoying some 'air miles'
Serious power-sliding
Setting up a Blackpool Flick :angel:
More fun than mortal GT players deserve
To those members who have know me for about as many years as I've been posting on matters GT here and elsewhere, it will come as no surprise that I now present to the clientelle of ETZ a build of a TVR
. She's a project born of my passion for this marque and the desire to overcome all the horrible things that PD have inflicted upon it (which are mostly spelt "Power-on/Power-Off & Braking Understeer").
This is designed to be used for the 4hr Endurance race at the Nurburgring and has been set-up to be run on a chassis that has been 'broken-in' and with the engine worn down to the so-called "Black Oil" state. This is to prevent, as much as possible, any changes in the behaviour and performance of the car during the long race.
Further, she is meant to be driven using the manual gear shift of the G25, rather than the paddles on the wheel. Indeed, after a bit of practice, I'm hoping people will find that this encourages proper braking and gear-changing and stops the desire to dive into an apex of a corner too fast, hard on the brakes and chopping the box down ... then wondering why a 365HP car on cold N3 tyres slides wide.
I haven't had chance to actually try her in the race for which she is targeted, I'm embarassed to say. Real world work (the sort I get paid for) has overwhelmed my free time and I've barely found the hours to dial her in and 'grind her down'. Partially this was bad planning becaues I built her on a fresh-start game save that I'm using to see how much of the game I can complete just using a Tuscan and haven't yet done enough game percentage to unlock the Endurance Hall
.However, she will do laps of the 'Ring in 7'35 - 7' 45 depending on tyre wear and driving aberations {see above about late-braking effects
} which is massively quicker than what is necessary to beat the grid in the Enduro. In my previous run at this race, which was done (not long after GT4 was released in a TVR V8S), my laps were over the 8 minute mark, so the Tuscan is more than quick enough. The grid back then was Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II, Vauxhall VX220 Turbo, Audi RS4, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VIII MR GSR, Ford Focus RS2 and my notes tell me that any grids with the Opel Speedster Turbo in are to be avoided as it's way above the performance curve.
As with the GT40, straight-line speed is not a problem, except for the fact that a real-world Tuscan is claimed to hit 200mph and the PD version cannot.
A Tuscan in the wild, eating less bellicose marques as snacks-on-the-run.
One of the big problems to overcome was the fact that the tyre-wear at the front was much worse than the rear and I didn't want to make the understeer even worse by running harder compounds at the front. So I had to indulge in a little weight re-distribution excercise. This was expensive in money terms but did help even things out. The other major problem was the simple lack of response from the steering, or, more accurately, a strangely lagged response where you'd feed in a hefty amount of lock and then the car would respond after a delay. To counter this, in the end, I simply had to run with much harder Damper ratings than I would like. You can see the results of this in the picture below:
All that said, this car turned out to be very stable, even on the low-grip tyres she's shod with and she seldom threatens to light-up the rears under hard throttle. The curse, as ever, is understeer. Too soon on the loud pedal and you'll feel the push to the outside as the rear grip excedes the front. With TVR's in-game, as in real life to an extent, it's a matter of learning how to drive one and once you do, boy are they fun
.Anyhow, enough warbling. The hardware for this build is:
Weight Reduction Stage 3
Standard Tyres (Grade N3)
Brake Balance Controller {Optional}
Racing Suspension
Triple-Plate Clutch
Racing Flywheel
Carbon Propellor Shaft
The Set-up is as follows:
Brakes: 6/6 (lower front power recommended if you're a bit heavy on the STOP pedal
)Springs: 11.6/9.0
Ride: 97/97
Damper Bound: 5/6
Damper Rebound: 10/6
Camber: 3.0/1.0
Toe: +1/+0
Stabiliser: 4/6
TCS/ASM: 0/0/0
Weight Balance: 132kg @ +9
A look at the difference between front and rear tyre width in this Flugplatz shot perhaps shows us why the PD engine builds in so little front end grip? It should also be noted that altho' the car is still nose-heavy to an extent, the flatness in the air here is an indication that the general balance is much better than it was.
To finish, as well as being tasked specifically with the 4hr Endurance I mentioned earlier, this lady is having to fulfil a much wider role than a sports-car would normally be called upon for. Because she was built for a game in which the sole aim was to see how much could be done with her, she's had to abandon the race tracks and street circuits and get down and dirty (or chilly) with the Rally boys. The following shots show the same car as above, the only tweaks being a switch of the Stabalisers to 6/3 and a TCS of 5 being set.
Downhill, hard on the brakes, waiting for the back-end to come round
Enjoying some 'air miles'
Serious power-sliding
Setting up a Blackpool Flick :angel:
More fun than mortal GT players deserve
Last edited:
- 736
Hey mate, that TVR looks evil. And you found the version in green! (though I think it looks dreadful). Sadly, I can't promise a review this year, can't even find time for TCv4 stuff.
I've noticed something missing from your review; the A-spec value vs lineups. I presume this is because you haven't done the said enduro, but thought I should point it out in case you simply forgot.
One final thing, you forgot to post the bloody tune.
Or are you just keeping us waiting, creating tension?
I've noticed something missing from your review; the A-spec value vs lineups. I presume this is because you haven't done the said enduro, but thought I should point it out in case you simply forgot.
One final thing, you forgot to post the bloody tune.
Or are you just keeping us waiting, creating tension?
- 2,063
Sorry, PF, I did sort of bury the tune half way down rather than putting it at the top. I wanted to do the preamble first before noting the 'engineering'. Your comment suggests it would be better to put it at the beginning?As to the colour, well, that is only one of the greens. There is another which I shall be using for a R tyred, Winged, HP-enhanced version
.The A-spec value is missing as, as you astutely noted, I haven't had chance to run the Enduro yet.
My V8S garnered 200 A-Spec on S2's but the Tuscan has a lot more horses which will eat A-Spec points. I hope I can get to run the race in my Tuscan Game but if it turns out I can't, I shall transfer the car between game saves and have a go over Christmas.
Rotary Junkie
Premium
- 9,810
- Canton, MI
- RJs_RX-7
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